Kakashi's story: The Exploits of an Ex-Hokage
by BEBluvnaru
Summary: Kakashi has had a secret since he was a teenager. After retiring as hokage and leaving to live apart from the leaf, he will find out if that secret can become more. Set in the same alternate universe as Sakura and Hinata's stories. Lots of romance and fluff... some action/adventure.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I took creative license with Mabui's jutsu, including the heavenly transfer technique which I know is only for inanimate objects. I also took creative license with the time line… and the timing of Hyuga affair to be precise. Hope you enjoy! Let me know about any criticisms, I've changed parts of the first two chapters all ready.

These characters are all owned by Masashi Kishimoto - with the exception of Mabui's children and parents... they are OCs.

* * *

A fifteen-year-old, Kakashi Hatake, crouched in the branches of a tall tree. They had been tracking this group for a few days now, and they were already miles within the Land of Fire, heading towards Konohagakure. The group would only be allowed to approach the village for so long before they would have to be dealt with. He leaned back into the deeper shadows as he listened to the voices nearby. Then he turned his head slightly to get a view of the group.

They were Kumo shinobi. Three of them looked younger than him... they could have still been genin. Though this would have been a rather high level mission for a group of genin, and despite their youth, none of them showed any signs of inexperience. The fourth was an older man and must have been their team leader and sensei.

"Jay sensei, what're the chances that we're this far into leaf territory without encountering any Konoha shinobi?" asked a pale blonde girl with blue eyes, who wore a tanto at her hip. She looked around herself suspiciously.

Her sensei, a dark brown man with a shaved head and dark glasses, replied, "It is strange."

"If we split up, it will be easier to remain covert." The man continued. "Atsui with Mabui –continue our current route. Samui and I will head west and then circle back south."

The three younger shinobi nodded. Then the older ninja and the blonde girl left the clearing, running to the west. They left behind the other two Kumo shinobi, a pale blonde boy, who looked like the male version of the blonde kunoichi. He carried a katana with a white hilt. And a thin silvered haired girl with brilliant green eyes and brown skin. She carried a chokuto on her back with a red hilt.

Kakashi signaled to the ANBU hidden in the next tree, instructing him to follow the group running west. He stayed to watch the remaining two, sliding his cat mask over his face and quietly moving after them as they continued southwest towards the village.

There was tentative peace between Kumo and Konoha, but it was common knowledge that Kumo had not yet followed the peace treaty guidelines and demilitarized like the other villages. In response, Konoha held onto multiple of Kumo's more dangerous captured shinobi. The ANBU had been monitoring for an attempt to recover the prisoners. So far, they had only found groups scouting the area.

At first, Kakashi thought it was useless to follow this group. They were young and nothing seemed particularly special about them. No one would have pinpointed this team, as the team that Kumo would send for a recovery attempt. But something told him to keep following them anyway, and they continued to move on a much more determined path than the other scouting groups. One of them must have had a special technique that the cloud was counting on.

They all carried swords, and like most Kumo shinobi appeared proficient in kenjutsu. When they encountered a small group of bandits before crossing the border, they had fought well together. He had seen the blonde boy produce a large flame from his sword, so he had some sort of fire release jutsu. The blonde girl had a very tactical mind, and the others seemed to defer to her, at times even more so than the team leader.

He finally pinpointed the silver haired girl as the one with the special technique. She was reckless, as though not particularly concerned for her own safety. At times, leaving herself open, in order to protect her teammates. And she had some sort of teleporting technique which she could use to transport others. This must have been how they planned to get the prisoners out.

They were getting too close to the village and not stopping. He made the decision that he would have to take them out. Kakashi picked up speed, catching up to them and passing them. He circled around to approach them from the front.

He lifted his headband to reveal his sharingan and made the hand seals, activating his chidori. As the two young shinobi came into view, he moved from the trees into their path to strike the blonde ninja.

"Watch out!" The silver haired kunoichi yelled as she simultaneously made hand seals. The blonde boy disappeared as Kakashi was about to make contact with him. With lightning speed, he appeared almost instantaneously behind Kakashi, drawing his katana and sending a flame out of the end of the sword that Kakashi barely dodged.

Knowing she was going to leave herself open to protect the boy, a clone came at her from the left. She dodged a blow from the clone's fist, just in time. Making another set of hand seals, a large metal fan appeared in front of her, taking the impact of Kakashi's chidori. The girl drew her chokuto in a circular motion and sliced through the clone's neck. The blonde boy pivoted left to slash at Kakashi's arm as he hit the fan. He saw through this easily with his sharingan, using the body replacement technique just before the katana made contact.

The two cloud ninja watched as the wounded Kakashi changed to a log. They dropped to the ground, standing back to back, their swords at ready. They searched the trees for any sign of him.

Mabui whispered, "Do you know who that was? He had a sharingan ...and that lightning technique."

"Yea. I know exactly who that was." Atsui replied, irritated. "They call him 'Cold blooded Kakashi', he's killed so many with that chidori of his."

"How'd we get lucky enough to run into this particular ANBU? He has a sharingan. We'll never get out of this." Mabui moaned.

"What're you worried about? He might have a sharingan, but he isn't an Uchiha. We'll be fine... as long as you do what you need to do!" Atsui snapped, his temper getting the best of him.

Mabui looked worried. She was not certain she was up to the task, but she could not let Atsui or the rest of the team down. Reluctantly, she said, "Yes. Ok."

"COME OUT AND FACE US, KAKASHI OF THE LEAF!" Atsui demanded.

On cue, Kakashi appeared above Atsui. Jumping down from the tall tree branches above the cloud ninja, he swung his tanto down at the boy's head. Atsui just barely deflected the blow with his katana. Kakashi jumped back and crouched down, slicing at Mabui's legs and grazing her calves, before blocking Atsui's next strike.

Mabui barely registered the blow. Recovering quickly from Kakashi's sword, she swung her own sword at the leaf ninja, but was blocked by a kunai that appeared suddenly in Kakashi's right hand. Kakashi pushed both of his weapons forward, using his shear strength to over power the two younger shinobi. He pushed them both back and off balance.

Throwing Mabui off of her feet easily, he tossed the kunai at her long shirt, pinning her sleeve to the ground. Then he blocked Atsui's next sword swing before pivoting to the right and punching the blonde boy in the face.

With the punch, Atsui flew back and skidded on the ground on his butt. Kakashi moved over top of the boy, punching him again in the face. Atsui was out cold.

Finally getting her sleeve free from the kunai, Mubai made hand seals, and the unconscious Atsui disappeared from underneath Kakashi, instantaneously appearing in her arms.

Coolly Kakashi walked over to the two young shinobi on the ground. Standing above them, he placed his tanto at Mabui's throat, and stated, "You're too far in leaf territory. We know you're here for your prisoners, but you won't get any further."

That is when he noted numerous paper bombs right behind Mabui's back. "Shit!"

He started his body replacement, but Mabui had set the explosion as soon as she fell, and it came too quick. In his attempt to escape, the explosion blew him off of his feet, filling the entire clearing with smoke and fire. He hit a nearby tree, head first. His head rang with the impact. His eyes blurred, and with the resulting head concussion, he passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

A bit later, he opened his eyes again to Mabui's face peering into his face. She removed his broken ANBU mask. She appeared unmarked and seemingly uninjured by the paper bombs. Kakashi thought to himself, 'How is that even possible? She should be dead', before he passed out again.

More time passed and he opened eyes again, this time to Atsui and Mabui arguing above him. With the exception of Atsui's black eyes, they both looked completely fine.

"We should take him to Konoha and leave him at the gate." Mabui was arguing. "Who knows how long it will take them to find him out here? He might bleed out and be dead by then."

"We don't have time for that!" Atsui argued back. "Besides he was going to kill us without a second thought. Why are we wasting energy helping him?"

"Because the order was to get the prisoner out without being seen. Abandon the mission if there is any chance we might get caught." She argued back. "Leaving a trail of dead ANBU behind will definitely get us caught."

"By the time they find his body, we'll be long gone." Atsui retorted, snorting.

Mabui crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving him."

"Fine! Get up, Konoha!" Atsui walked up to Kakashi, kicking him in the chest. Kakashi moaned in response, holding onto the painful wound in his side.

"Stop that!" Mabui moved between Atsui's foot and the boy on the ground. Leaning over Kakashi, she spoke to him softly, noting his eyes were open. "You have a wound in your left side, and you've lost a lot of blood. I've patched you up a bit –but my medical ninjutsu isn't great."

"We're going to get you back to your village as quickly as possible… but you have to help us."

Kakashi reached his hand up to Mabui's face. Falling back into delirium, he could not see her face clearly. "Rin? Is that you?"

"No. I'm Mabui."

"Help me!" She yelled at her teammate. She grabbed hold of Kakashi's arm, pulling him up with the help of Atsui.

They moved as fast as they could with a delirious Kakashi in tow. Atsui complained most of the way and then demanded that they stop for the night.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to stop this close to Konohagakure with a half dead leaf ninja in tow." Mabui protested.

"We haven't seen anyone else all day. And if we don't stop, he really will die." Atsui looked at Kakashi, who had completely passed out again. His bandage was soaked all the way through.

"Fine." Mabui relented. Atsui was not moving, and she could not carry the boy by herself. She lay Kakashi down on the ground carefully. "I'll change his bandages and work on the wound again."

Atsui rolled his eyes and sat down to keep watch at the edge of the clearing. Mabui worked on Kakashi, giving him a bit of water when he finally woke up again.

"Why would you help me?" Kakashi asked weakly, looking up at the girl who was dressing his wound again. "Your teammate is right. I was going to kill you."

Mabui eyed him cautiously. "Your death could complicate things for Kumo and our Lord Fourth. All the other villages are suspicious enough of Kumo. Our mission was just to recover one of our citizens and then leave without being seen. Leaving a dead ANBU behind was definitely not part of the plan."

"...And it doesn't matter what your intentions were. I was never going to let you kill us."

"I saw you blow yourselves up. With that many paper bombs, you should be in several pieces." Kakashi frowned at her. "How am I the only one who got injured?"

Mabui gave him a sly look. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She pulled him up and against her shoulder while wrapping the bandage carefully around his torso.

Still weak, he lay his head forward and against her shoulder. It felt good to make physical contact with another human. Besides to kill or to maim, Kakashi had not touched another person in a couple of years now. Not since before Rin died by his hands. "Yeah I would… You must be very powerful."

Mabui turned her head slightly towards the boy laying on her shoulder. "Not really. All my jutsu are defensive. You're the one who is truly powerful. We knew who you were even before you removed that cat mask."

Done wrapping the bandage, Mabui helped Kakashi lean back against the tree and then helped him pull the torn and bloody body suit down over the bandage. She examined the small cuts over the visible portions of his face. The mask that covered his mouth and nose was partially torn and covered with a small amount of blood.

"I heard you. When you were talking about me before." Kakashi said, examining Mabui's face as well, but for different reasons. "You know about my reputation… Cold blooded Kakashi."

Mabui smirked, looking into his mismatched eyes. Then she said, "I'm not so certain about that reputation anymore. You don't seem cold blooded to me. Just very sad."

An odd look flashed through Karachi's eyes. A stunned look, as if he was caught in the midst of something very personal.

"Your mask is torn." Mabui reached towards Kakashi's face, wanting to see more of what lay beneath. This boy intrigued her. He seemed so different from the boys, who she knew in Kumogakure. So serious. His young face held eyes that looked like they had seen a hundred years of pain.

But abruptly, he grabbed her hand with unexpected strength and said, fiercely, "I don't ever remove my mask."

Mabui pulled her hand back. She would try another angle then. She looked at him coyly. "By the way, who is Rin?"

Kakashi pulled his headband down, so his scarred eye was covered again. He looked away and did not answer.

"I was just wondering because you've been calling me that all day." Mabui continued, beginning to place her medical supplies back in her pack. "Is she your girlfriend?"

He still did not answer, nor did he move his eye away from the ground. He seemed to be actively ignoring her.

Not deterred however, Mabui said, "You must really love her. If she's the one you called for while you were so weak."

"It was never like that!" Kakashi snapped. Unaffected by his anger, Mabui continued to look at him expectantly.

Realizing she was not going to leave him alone until he provided an answer, he sighed and said, "She was my teammate… until she died in the third war. She was a good friend."

Mabui looked away now. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried."

"It's ok." He said, shifting his body to get more comfortable. He relaxed a bit, feeling some of the weight lift as he spoke about Rin. "I probably should talk about it more."

Mabui nodded gravely. "I understand. My parents died in the third war too. I rarely talk about it, either. At least… not to anyone living."

"You don't understand." Kakashi eyed the girl in front of him coolly. His demeanor changed again, and he became more hostile. He said, coldly. "I got my nickname, cold-blooded, because I was the one who killed her."

Mabui sat back on her heels and looked at him. Well that explained why he seemed to be carrying around so much pain. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, determinedly, "Well it's still a terrible nickname. I don't know the reason for what happened between you and your teammate, Rin, but if you truly were cold-blooded, you wouldn't be carrying her death around with you, like a noose around your neck."

"And you're right, I may not know your pain, exactly. But I'm a shinobi too – and I was only ten when I fought in the third war and lost my parents. I have my own pain… and too much blood on my hands. Why do you think I fought Atsui so hard to save your ass?" Mabui whispered, so only Kakashi could hear. She frowned, frustrated. "They force me to fight because of my jutsu, but my goal is to get away from this life. It's too much. I want to find a way to be helpful outside of the battlefield. I can't be the reason any one else dies."

Kakashi's face softened a bit as he took in Mabui's distraught expression. He reached up and brushed some of the strands of silver hair out of the girl's face. Finally, he admitted out loud, "Rin sacrificed herself for Konoha… and for me."

He had never said this before. He had chosen to punish himself by making Rin's choice, his choice. But now, he allowed himself a brief moment of solace.

"She must've been very special then. And she must've known how special you were… and worth saving." Mabui replied quietly.

"I'm not special –or worth saving. If I were, I would've been able to save Rin. I should've been the one to die that day." Kakashi glared at the ground, tears in his eyes. He was not sure why it was so easy to talk this stranger. But once he started, he could not stop himself.

Mabui fell forward, wrapping her arms around Kakashi's neck and burying her head into the shoulder opposite to his wound. She whispered. "Sometimes I just want to die too."

In response, Kakashi leaned his head to the side and rested it on top of the head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a longtime. As the sun set and the shadows took over the woods. The soft purrs of Atsui's snoring as he fell asleep at his lookout post mixed with the night chirps of crickets and cicadas. Still they stayed like that, enjoying the feel of human contact. Soon they both fell asleep too.

The next morning, Mabui woke to find herself, leaning into Kakashi's chest. His right arm wrapped around her. She sat up quickly and wiped her face, checking his bandage to make sure she had not disturbed it in her sleep. Kakashi, who had been awake for awhile, just watched her and said nothing.

"We need to get you back to your village now before we run into anyone else." She looked over at Atsui, who was eyeing the two of them from his spot, looking irritated.

Kakashi grabbed Mabui's arm and looked into her green eyes. He said, "I need to say thank you for helping me."

She smiled at him in response.


	3. Chapter 3

Three years earlier…

A ten year old Mabui stood between her mother and father, along with the rest of their specialty unit at the Kumo base. The commander was speaking, but Mabui was not listening. She was looking around her at the others in the unit, most of them adults around her parents' age. A few teenagers were sprinkled in between, but Mabui was definitely the youngest one.

Now the commander walked down their row and pointed at Mabui. "She will go with the drop squad this time. She's old enough… Mabui will provide the deadliest strike, and they will suspect her the least."

Mabui looked up at her father. His face was grave, but he only nodded at the commander and said, "Yes sir."

After the commander was done walking through the rows of men and women, picking out all of those who he wanted on his drop squad, he dismissed them, telling them to be ready in ten minutes.

Mabui's father, Nobui, kneeled down in front of her and took her hands. He had silver hair like all the members of their clan, thick and heavy, made for fire and destruction. But his eyes were black and intense. Mabui looked away from them and down at her feet. "Your mother and I have been assigned to the clean up squad, so you will have to make it through your first mission on your own. But you've been trained for this your entire life. It will be just like every other training exercise, just do your job and then get out of there. Don't look around you. Keep your focus on your destination and your retreat. Do you understand?"

Mabui nodded. "Yes, Papa."

Her mother, who also had the long silver hair but soft green eyes like Mabui, reached down and stroked her daughter's head. "She's too young and inexperienced for this Nobui. The drop squad is fifteen and older for a reason."

Nobui looked up at his wife. "The commander had to drop the age because the enemy is starting to catch on too quick. Mabui just happens to be the youngest one of us to graduate from the academy. And her service in the war was sanctioned directly by Lord Third. There is nothing to do about it. Mabui is a shinobi –she has to do her duty just like the rest of us."

Nobui squeezed his daughter's hand, before she was directed away and towards the rest of the team of cloud ninja. They gathered around the lightning hawks, who were summoned by the commander. Three ninja on each hawk.

The commander stood on the back of his own personal lightning hawk. "Your birds will be directed to your drop spot. Once the bird reaches the spot, you will receive the signal for the dive. Task completed, you will retreat from the area as quickly as possible to make room for the clean up squad. Mission understood?"

"Yes sir!" The team responded in unison.

Mabui followed two other young cloud ninja, Jarui and Atinui, and climbed on the back of one of the lightning hawks. The brothers were both from her clan and only a few years older than her, so she knew them vaguely.

Jarui looked back at her as he stood in the front. "Is this your first drop squad mission, kid?"

Mabui nodded, silently. Atinui stood behind her and slapped her on the back. "Don't worry, popping the cherry is the worst part –it only gets better after that. Just keep your head and complete the task."

Mabui nodded again, fingering her backpack. Her backpack was bigger than both Jarui's and Atinui's hip packs for a reason. She would be expected to hit the center and the densest portion of the unit.

The lightning hawks took off, following the commander's bird in a pyramid formation. After awhile the birds began to split off. Eventually, Mabui, Jarui and Atinui were flying on their own over the battle field. The lightning hawks flew high enough to avoid being spotted, but Mabui could see the different ninja units, decimating each other below.

Their bird flew beyond enemy lines into an area currently held by Konohagakure. Jarui whispered back. "Remember some of the Konoha ninja have sharingan, so watch your back."

Lightening struck at the bird. That was the signal. Jarui and Atinui dove off the bird from either side. Mabui took at deep breath and followed. She dove through the clouds, tumbling like she had been trained, several hundred feet down into the enemy territory. Landing on her feet with enough impact to dent portions of the ground, she walked into the Konoha ranks, attempting to get to the most populous area. Eventually she stopped, making hand seals to transport two large barrels from the base to the either side of her.

Two loud explosions occurred from the positions where Jarui and Atinui fell. The leaf ninja started to shout. Until then, no one had paid much attention to the ten year old girl wandering through. Now one shouted, "There's another one right there!"

Several of them came at her. As soon as they got close, she discharged the explosives in her backpack. Fire and pressure and flying body parts surrounded Mabui. The explosion kept going as the barrels blew as well, and she could hear people screaming as they burned to death. She crouched down, putting her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sounds of death that surrounded her.

Then her training kicked in, and she knew she had to retreat. Her clothes had burned with the first explosion. All she wore now was the fire resistant wire mesh armor. The clean up squad would not be able to distinguish her from any surviving konoha ninja. She started to run. She ran out of the fire into the woods and back towards Kumo.

* * *

Thirteen year old Mabui woke up with a start. She was drenched in sweat. Wiping her forehead, she looked over at the clock. One am again.

She got up out of the bed and opened up the window that looked out over the mountain side, leaning her head out into the cool air. The night sky was clear and full of stars. The full moon was large and round. It dripped soft white light into her window. She let the light breeze brush against her face, cooling her down and slowing her racing pulse.

She had not been able to sleep an entire night without nightmares since her first drop squad mission three years ago. The nightmares only got worse after her parents disappeared. Lord fourth was kind enough to open up his home to her. Since she had been living there, he and his younger brother, Killer Bee, treated her like a daughter.

There were many orphaned children in Kumogakure, who had lost their parents during the third world war, but only she had warranted moving into the raikage's house under his and the jinchuuriki's direct protection. She knew this special treatment had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with how important her kekkei genkai was to village. She was the last of her clan. The last to carry her bloodline.

A large part of Mabui felt this was a good thing. She had seen nothing but suffering as a result of her kekkei genkai. The horror and devastation that she brought during the war still haunted her. And then soon after, her parents and her entire clan were tortured and killed as a result of it.

She got back into her bed and pulled her legs up into her chest. No matter what the raikage said, she would never get married nor pass this curse onto any children. She was determined that she would be the last. Even if it meant she had to remain alone for the rest of her life.


	4. Chapter 4

seven years later…

Kakashi, now twenty two, stood in the raikage's office, shifting from foot to foot. It had been years since either Konoha or Kumo extended an offer of reconciliation to each other after the first treaty was violated.

He was just recently released from the ANBU black ops. Lord Third had already tried to place him as the leader of a genin team once. That had not been successful. The team had not met Kakashi's standards, and he promptly flunked them. He figured Hiruzen Sarutobi was not going to give up any time soon. But meanwhile, he was kept busy with several diplomatic missions. Currently, he was sent as an envoy to ensure the transition to peace between Konoha and Kumo went smoothly. But apparently the raikage was still mulling over the terms.

The fourth raikage sat like a burly bear in his chair, growling and groaning as he read over the Lord Hokage's letter.

Kakashi was doing his best not to look as impatient or as bored as he felt. Insulting the raikage, who was well known for his short fuse, was not the way he wanted to end this trip. The mask helped, but his body had a way of giving away his thoughts, even with his face covered.

He may have actually fallen asleep, if at least a part of his attention was not peaked by the silver haired young woman who stood by the raikage's desk. She had not bothered to look in his direction again, after she greeted him at the door. Her face was expressionless and her body language very formal. But he was sure that she had to remember him.

Eventually the large man waved his hand, irritated. "I need more time with this."

He looked at Kakashi. "When I've had time to consider, I will send Kumo's head ninja to Konoha for the signing. You can go back and tell your hokage that."

Kakashi nodded and stood silently, not giving away any of his quite annoyed thoughts.

The raikage looked at his assistant and said, "Mabui you can show this shinobi out."

"Yes sir." Mabui bowed to the raikage and then walked around the desk. She bowed to Kakashi and then she said, "Follow me please, sir."

Kakashi followed her out of the office. She shut the door behind them, so they were alone in the hallway.

That is when Mabui finally smiled at him and said, "I see your wound healed well, then."

"Yes. Thanks to you." Kakashi replied, brightly. So she did remember him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then could think of nothing to say. Finally, he just said, "It's been a long time, Mabui."

"Yes it has." Mabui replied. "I didn't think you recognized me."

She had definitely grown up over the last seven years. And he had not recognized her at first, not until she said her name. The last time he saw her, she was a skinny thirteen-year-old girl, with a big mouth and even bigger ideas.

But that was seven years ago and she was no longer thirteen. While standing in the raikage's office waiting, Kakashi could not help but let his eyes furtively graze over all of Mabui's new curves. Her suit had a long skirt that covered most of her skin, but it was tight enough that he could make out her round breasts and butt underneath. Kakashi felt twenty suited her very well.

"Oh. I remember you." He said heartily. "It's hard to forget someone who saves your life."

Mabui laughed, lightly. "I was also the one who caused that wound –so I don't know how much credit I can take for my good deed."

"But you didn't just treat my wound that day…" Kakashi began and then he trailed off. Mabui looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish. But he had already lost his nerve.

"Well, I'm glad everything turned out well in the end." Mabui paused again as though waiting for Kakashi to say something else.

Kakashi laughed uncomfortably, having many things that he wanted to say, but none that he had enough nerve to say out loud. And at the same time embarrassed by all of the filthy thoughts that had been tumbling through his mind about her for the last couple of hours.

"So I see you got your wish. The raikage's assistant, huh?" Kakashi stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. I was finally able to convince our lord fourth that I had more value here in the village, than out on missions." Mabui said proudly. Then she said coyly. "Besides… they got tired of me saving enemy shinobi."

Mabui laughed. Kakashi laughed too, but secretly, he wondered just how important she was to Kumo for the village to just overlook her actions out in the field. Lord Hiruzen told him once that not every shinobi was cut out for every job. Mabui was definitely living proof of this.

Standing in front of her in the hall, he was fighting the urge to let his glance drop from her green eyes downward again. He let his laugh travel to his uncovered right eye, closing it. But when he reopened his eye, it landed on her breasts again.

Mabui noted Kakashi's embarrassed expression, and then she looked down at herself. Her face turned a deep shade of auburn as she realized what he was staring at. Quickly, she pulled her coat together and then turned away, saying, "This is the way out."

Kakashi cleared his throat and placed his hand on the back of his head, realizing he was just caught. He thought, 'I'm such a dope'.

Without a word, Mabui led him down a set of stairs, and opened another door for him at the end of another hall way, which led out into the street. Kakashi passed through the door way, but paused halfway and looked down at Mabui, not wanting to leave with her thinking he was a perverted jerk. He was not sure how he had managed to so thoroughly fuck this up.

"Mabui… I'm sorry…" He started.

"No need to apologize." She raised her hand up to stop him. Then she smiled, but she did not look him in the eye. Back in her formal business like voice, she said. "It was good to see you again Kakashi, sir. Hope your trip back to Konoha is pleasant."

He continued to stand there looking into her face. She kept her eyes averted from his eye, looking everywhere but. Boldly, he brought his left hand up and lifted her chin, moving her face towards him. He said, "I've thought about you a lot over the years…"

Mabui glanced at him now, her green eyes caught up in the intensity of his one visible black eye. In response, she reached up to touch the side of his face and then thought better of it, moving her hand away. Dropping the business tone again, she whispered back, "I've thought about you a lot too…"

Encouraged, Kakashi stepped closer to her, so that their bodies were touching now. He leaned his face down so the tips of their noses touched too and took hold of her hand.

Mabui took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting her head fall back slightly. It was so nice to feel him close... even through the mask. But knowing she had to stop before she went too far, she reluctantly moved her face away and looked down at their hands locked together. She said, "We've both lived complicated lives, Kakashi. You in Konoha and me in Kumo. And it was nice to find someone who understands. But that's all that it was and that's all that it ever can be."

"Yeah." He agreed solemnly. He was not sure what he really wanted from her, but her touch, the feeling of her hand in his hand may have been enough. So he let her hand go. "I know."

Then he moved out of the doorway so she could shut the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Two years later...

"Now we're tied again –we need another tie breaker…" Guy was rattling on as usual about the endless string of contests that he hounded Kakashi about daily. His self declared nemesis. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Let me know when you come up with something." Kakashi waved his hand at Guy nonchalantly, breaking off to walk into his apartment before Guy could make any further remarks.

He had spent the entire day digesting everything that Lord Third told him about his next prospective team. It seemed like a lot of pressure to ask him to watch over not just one orphan but two orphans. Even though Naruto's father, Minato, was his own mentor, and Sasuke's brother, Itachi, had been an ANBU under his command, he knew little to nothing about either one of them... besides the general things that the entire village knew, like Naruto was a trouble maker and Sasuke was the latest prodigy produced from the ninja academy. He knew nothing at all about the girl. Which did not surprise him, since he knew nothing at all about girls, in general.

Speaking of not understanding women, Kakashi sat down at the table in his apartment and started to shuffle through the extensive amount of paper that he had piled across it. He finally found his book. He flipped through the pages until a thin piece of paper slid out.

Opening Mabui's letter, he sat back in his chair to read it again. He loved the way her handwriting looked on the page… Just like her, neat and tidy on the surface with a whole lot of messy passion underneath. The letter still smelled of her perfume, and at the end, she always put a heart after her name. That heart warmed his heart and ensured that he always wrote a letter back to her.

He had unexpectedly received a letter from her a couple weeks after the last time that they met. The letter had started in an official way, as a correspondence in regards to the prospective peace between Kumo and Konoha. But it had ended more personally, and he had written a personal response back to her. She responded in like, and for the last two years, they had written several letters to each other, back and forth. Strangely, at times he felt closer to her than he did to his own comrades in Konohagakure. He told her about the thoughts that he would have never shared with Guy or Asuma or Kurenai or any of the others.

He pulled out the letter that he had begun to write in response to her last letter. It contained the usual stuff. Talking… or complaining about this new group of genin that he was going to have to assess and possibly flunk tomorrow. As well as the latest contest Guy had hooked him into. Then his handwriting became messier, and the letter went on to tell her how she had been torturing him. That he was in love with her and that he knew she loved him back, so he could not understand why she pushed him away. He cringed. He had been drunk when he wrote this. He started scratching out all of the parts that he had no intention of sending to her.

Leaning in to start writing again, he heard a knock at his door. He rolled his eyes. That better not be Guy again, bothering him about one of his brilliant contest ideas. Instead, it was Kurenai holding a pile of clothes which she promptly shoved into his stomach. "You left these downstairs in the laundry room. Since no one else wears face masks on a daily basis, I figured they were yours."

She looked beyond him into his apartment. Noticing the papers all over his table, she said, "I know you like to read, but are you writing a book now too?"

Kakashi looked at the table. He moved over and plopped the pile of clothes on top of the papers. He said, "Something like that."

"I'm meeting Asuma for dinner. And you're coming." Kurenai stated.

"I already have an evening full of cleaning up these clothes." Kakashi mumbled.

"Do that later." Kurenai grabbed Kakashi's arm. "We're going to find you a woman."

Kakashi's eyes opened wide as he was pulled out of the apartment door.

* * *

"You didn't give a single one of them a chance." Kurenai complained to Kakashi, who had his face buried in the book that he managed to swipe from the table before she dragged him out of his apartment.

Kakashi shrugged. "I feel I was very nice. I listened to Maioto's tragic life story... and Akio's complaints about all of the men, she used to love... I even know the names of all twenty of the cat woman's cats now."

Kurenai growled, snatching Kakashi's book. "Women don't want a date, who spends the entire date reading."

"Hey and I was still reading that!" Kakashi took his book back. Then he mumbled, "I had to find some way to keep from falling to sleep."

"Like maybe a conversation. She talks about herself… you talk about yourself, you know?"

"They seemed ok with just talking about themselves." Kakashi stated, burying himself back in the book.

"I'm done!" Kurenai stood up with her hands on her hips. "You are a self-determined bachelor. I'd have an easier time setting Guy up with a woman."

"Awww! You stab me deeply." Kakashi stated, smiling underneath his mask. "Guy will be happy to know that we are no longer tied. I won this contest –worst date."

Kuranei rolled her eyes and grabbed Asuma's arm, stomping off.

"Sorry man! I told her not to even try." Asuma said, with a cigarette in his mouth. He allowed himself to be pulled away.

"Does that mean I can leave now?! I have a book to finish writing!" Kakashi called after them.


	6. Chapter 6

Two years later...

Mabui stood to the right of the raikage next to Atsui and Samui. Darui and Shee stood on the other side. Lady Tsunade, the current hokage, and her entourage, which included the hokage's assistant, Shizune, and several leaf Jonin, sat across the table from them.

Mabui was disappointed to see that Kakashi was not a part of the hokage's escort. She had not seen him since that day he came to deliver the third hokage's proposal for peace. It was not long after, that the raikage sent ninja to kidnap the hyuga heir under the guise of signing the peace treaty. And then, he attempted again during the last chunin exam. The rift between the two villages had grown even larger, which meant there was no chance of seeing Kakashi anytime soon.

Though Mabui was the raikage's assistant and duty bound to serve him, she disagreed with most of his views. Starting with the stealing of powerful jutsu from other villages. Not that she had a sympathetic heart for Konoha either. The village hidden in the leaves was after all, the village that murdered her parents. But her parents' death was a direct result of the third raikage's bold provocation of Konohagakure by attempting to kidnap their previous jinchuuriki.

Now that there was a new hokage, another attempt was being made at diplomacy. This hokage unconventionally traveled to Kumo for the meeting. Mabui was sure there were ANBU crawling all over the mountain side. Maybe Kakashi was hidden among them, though he had written to her awhile back that he was no longer part of the black ops, and was actually the current nine tail jinchuuriki's sensei and team leader. She smiled to herself, she could not even imagine.

The meeting was not going well. It seemed as though this hokage's temper might actually outmatch the temper of the fourth raikage. If that was possible.

Atsui leaned over and whispered to Mabui. "I see your boyfriend did not make the cut for the hokage's escort."

Mabui frowned, whispering back. "What are you talking about?"

"Kakashi Hatake. You know… the konoha shinobi you insisted on saving and then practically slept with when we were kids."

Mabui's eyes opened wide, but she held her peace, only growling quietly under her breath. "I was thirteen –and I did not sleep with him the way you are implying. And I'm surprised you even remember that. I haven't thought about that mission since it happened."

That was a bold faced lie. She had thought about that mission often, and even more so after she and Kakashi met again four years ago. Kumo kept a file on Kakashi because he was one of Konoha's strongest ninja. And since she was the raikage's assistant she was privy to most intel. She always paid particular attention to any news coming from Konoha in hopes there was some mention of him.

They began to write letters to each other after they reconnected. Knowing the letters could be intercepted at anytime, they stuck to friendly topics, keeping each other up to date on each other's lives. Some of the letters went a bit deeper. Kakashi expressing his feelings about becoming a team leader to young genin. And about his relief over finally finding a team that he felt he could lead and mold. Mabui talked about the pressures of being the raikage's assistant and how she felt like it might be consuming her entire life.

Then she started to write to him about her nightmares, particularly when she wrote the letters in the middle of her nighttime insomnia. That was how she spent all of her nights. Either reading trashy romance novels or writing to Kakashi. The latter for a fix that she longed for but knew she could never have, and the former to calm her racing thoughts, to reconnect her to this world as opposed to yearning for the next.

She told him that she knew it was her penance to re-witness all of the deaths that she had caused as a child in her nightmares. It was painful, but it made her feel better... less evil, to take the punishment every night as some small payment for her past deeds. That was something only another killer would understand. Kakashi told her about his own nightmares. The one nightmare he had over and over of killing Rin. This made Mabui feel less alone and more human to be able to identify with someone else.

But they never spoke about their feelings for each other. In fact, Mabui was not certain how Kakashi felt about her anymore. If he still felt the way that he did when they almost kissed four years ago, or if she had become just a pen pal.

But she kept her relationship with the copy ninja to herself for a multitude of reasons. So it was a bit unnerving for Atsui to bring him up, though she figured it was in jest and not because he knew that she actually had feelings for Kakashi. Though she could never really tell for sure with Atsui.

"If Lord Fourth ever found out about…" Atsui wriggled his blonde eyebrows at her and laughed.

Her face turned red. She could feel herself start to snap but was unable to calm the tide of anger. "There is nothing to find out! This is how rumors start, so just shut up!"

The room stopped and looked at her, as her whisper became too loud. She bowed her head politely to apologize for interrupting. The rest of the room turned back to the meeting.

Mabui knew that her feelings for Kakashi would be like a wet dream for her boss. If there was a chance that she and her bloodline, could be matched with a ninja as powerful as Kakashi Hatake, A would die a happy man. Mabui was more determined than ever that this was never going to happen. Any child she had with Kakashi would automatically be manipulated and used as a weapon against enemy villages. Maybe if the child happened to turn out as bizarre as Bee, he or she might avoid some of the mental torment that Mabui had endured as a child. But there was only one Killer Bee, and Mabui was not taking that chance. As of now, she was already being pressured into picking the right suitor from a very short list of Kumo ninja. Politics would not taint the one thing she had for herself, which was her connection to Kakashi.

After the meeting finally ended and Mabui finished organizing the paperwork for the raikage's next day. She made her way out into the busy city streets. There was a large crowd forming in the plaza. Bee was putting on another concert, much to his brother's chagrin. She planned to hide in her house and hoped that the inevitable fight did not result in caving in her roof... again.

As she turned on to the next street, she felt herself being watched. She looked up and into a single black eye, staring down at her from behind a blue mask. His headband covering his left eye as usual. His silver hair blowing wildly on this windy day. He stood among the crowd, right next to her, so their arms brushed against each other as she walked past him. She almost dropped all of the papers in her arms. She looked down at her feet to prevent herself from tripping, but by the time she looked back up, he was already gone.

Searching the crowd, she looked around for any sign of him. How had he disappeared so quickly? Maybe he was just a figment of her imagination.

Sighing, she continued the rest of the way to her house and let herself in. She placed the paperwork neatly on her desk. She would be working most of the night preparing for tomorrow. She sighed again, looking over at the book that sat on the kitchen counter. Maybe she should just procrastinate and finish reading her trashy romance novel instead. She was at the best part after all... right before the hero and heroine finally came together and consummated the one hundred pages of angst that led up to the inevitable love scene. And it was not like the fourth would know the difference anyway. She was the only one around there who ever knew the difference. Though... she did at least need to get out the order to replace today's broken window before the morning. It might rain tomorrow.

She pulled off her suit jacket and skirt and then shimmied out of the wire mesh armor she wore underneath. Pinning her hair up, she hopped in the shower and then slipped on her comfortable clothes, old pajama bottoms and a holey t-shirt that she had slept in since she was a teenager. She grabbed her glasses off of her night table and went in search of her book and a nice hot cup of tea.

She padded back out into the living room, and then almost lost her shit as she spotted Kakashi crouched on her windowsill, perusing her trashy romance novel.

"AAHH!" She screamed as she almost jumped out of her skin.

Looking over the top of the book, he saluted her. Plastering on a full faced smile, he said, jovially, "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."

She clutched at her chest and walked over to him, snatching her book back and pushing him out of the window into the bushes below, slamming it shut. She chuckled to herself and then moved away to fix herself some tea. She put out two cups, figuring once he licked his wounds, he would be ringing the door bell. But after several minutes past and she heard nothing, she went back to the window to make sure he had not actually hurt himself. As she opened the window and leaned out, she felt two hands grab and poke her at the waist. She wriggled as the hands continued to poke and tickle her.

"Were you trying to kill me?" Kakashi asked, dramatically, as she turned around and pushed him away to escape his octopus hands.

Mabui rolled her eyes. "You can't die, falling from a first floor window. And don't you people ever use the damn door! I have a boss who insists on jumping through walls and windows, and a…"

She paused, not knowing what to call Kakashi. He noticed this and smirked. "A what?"

Ignoring him, she moved away to the kitchen. He followed her, pulling out a bunch of mountainside lilies from behind his back. "Oh.. By the way, I just pulled these out from underneath me after I fell in your yard. Thought you might want them."

Mabui looked at the flowers. They were beautiful and definitely neither sat on... nor from her garden. She took the small boutique from him, smiling. He must have bought them from the local florist, but if he wanted to pretend like he just picked them out of her yard, she would let him. "I love them! Thank you."

He watched her quietly as she moved around to find a vase for the flowers, arranged them lovingly, and then filled the vase with water. She set the flowers on her table before moving over to him, kissing him lightly on his masked cheek. "Your backside can pick flowers for me any day."

He wriggled his one visible eyebrow at her.

She laughed lightly before reentering the kitchen. While filling the cups with tea, she asked, "Would you like some tea… while you finish my book?!"

She leaned over the counter and grabbed her book back from him again. "You can have it after I'm done with it."

Kakashi relinquished the book and then took the tea cup from Mabui. She said, "I didn't think you came. You weren't in the meeting. What're you doing here?"

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." He replied sarcastically.

Leaning on her elbows on the counter, she sipped her tea, smiling smugly at him. "How do you plan to drink that tea with your mask on?"

"I don't ever take off my mask." She mocked the deep gruff tone that Kakashi had as a teenage boy.

He laughed. "Ha. Ha. Very funny."

Then he looked around the room as if searching for spies. He peeled the mask down just enough and brought the cup up to his mouth before Mabui could get a look.

She screwed up her face and said, "You suck."

"Maybe one day, you'll be privy to more." He said, winking at her.

She laughed despite herself, shaking her head. Over the years, Kakashi had managed to shift from the darkest and most serious boy that she had ever encountered, to one of the quirkiest people she knew… and living in Kumo, she knew a lot of quirky people. But she knew this was still his way of keeping everyone at arm's length. She just wished he would find someone, who he was willing to show his face to. She knew how lonely it was to always have to keep people at arm's length.

Setting down her tea cup, she maneuvered around the counter and then walked up to him, so she stood right next to the stool that he sat on.

"You are so ridiculous." She reached behind him and into his pack, pulling out her book again. "I'll just take this back. Thanks!"

"You can't fault me for trying." He said smiling under his mask, as she left the room to stash her book somewhere safe where he would not be able to swipe it again. As she hid the book in a box under her bed, she heard her stereo come on out in the living room.

"What is that?" She walked back out to find herself snatched up into Kakashi's arms. He danced her around the room, spinning, and dipping her. And then as the music slowed down, he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms all the way around her waist. He rested his chin on the top of her head, rocking back and forth to the music. She lay her head on his chest, listening to his steady heart beat.

She had not been this physically close to anyone since the last time they met. She looked up at him. From the look in his one visible eye, neither had he. He grasped her face softly, moving his own face down so their foreheads touched. He moved his mask slightly, rubbing his nose on her nose and meeting her lips with his lips.

Kakashi moved closer to deepen the kiss, but Mabui backed away a bit, laughing awkwardly and turning her face away into his shoulder. "We can't…"

In response, he moved completely away from her and replaced the mask. The solemn and serious Kakashi that she remembered, took over his face. He said, "I'm sorry. That was my fault."

She shook her head. "It's ok. The kiss was nice."

He did not look at her again, but walked towards the door. "I should go."

"Ok." She said regretfully. She wanted to grab his arm and pull him back to her to finish the kiss. She wanted to go further and invite him into her bedroom, so she could show him exactly how he made her feel. But she just let him walk away. A larger part of her unable to allow anyone that close.

But she also knew how much it took for Kakashi to allow her so close, so she could not let him leave like this. She asked, "Can you wait just a sec?"

She went to her room and pulled back out the book that she hid from him. She wrote a quick note on the last page of the book, and then came back out and handed it to him. "Just tell me what happens at the end... the next time I see you."

"Exactly what I was after. A kiss for a book." He forced a laugh and saluted her, before taking the book and shoving it in his back pocket. "I'll see you again real soon."


	7. Chapter 7

note: the more explicit version of this chapter is on aO3 under bebluvsnaru

* * *

Five years later…

Her memory only extended back to the moment she woke up in a dead world buried in soot, and shredded and rotted wood. She had no memory of how she ended up there. When she woke, she did not know her name, or even what her face looked like until she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of a pond.

Most of her clothes were singed off. She only had on the wire mesh armor of a ninja. She did remember who and what a shinobi was in this world, and so, she knew what she was. But that was the only identity she could account for. She was as lost in her own mind as she was physically in the world.

She stumbled through what appeared to be an endless and barren crater. The desolation of life within this area was apparent. Even in her current state, Mabui knew this was not normal. She wondered what had happened here. She figured whatever had happened it was the reason why she had no memory, and she was now mute.

She first noticed that she had no voice, when after a couple of days of wandering, she finally crossed paths with the first human life. She had survived off the critters who invaded this dead area. It was sustenance if nothing else, and after enduring an entire day of hunger pains and dire thirst, there was nothing too repulsive to be edible. She figured if the entire world was dead and she was the only one left in it, dying a slow painful death by starvation, was not the way she wanted to rejoin humanity.

Then she spotted him. A tall man, with silver hair and a half mask over his face, was crouched not more than ten feet away from her position behind some crumbling rock. He had not noticed her yet and was seemingly focused on his current task. Based on the shocked look on his face when he finally noticed her, she could tell he was not expecting to find any survivors. She speculated that maybe he was searching for bodies.

When she first saw him, she opened her mouth to call for him. Nothing came out but a grunt. She clutched at her throat and tried again. Still nothing. She stood and waved her arms at him. That is when he finally looked up.

He stood up to his full height, and frowned down at her, attempting to discern whether she was real or an illusion of the light.

He spoke then. "Mabui?!"

She attempted to step towards him. But the strain of wandering the last few days with little food and no water, along with the relief of finally finding someone, had placed her near her limit. Her legs collapsed beneath her.

He moved so quickly that she barely had time to think. He caught her before she hit the ground. Even through his layers of clothes, she could feel the strength of the man who supported her. She leaned into his hard chest, letting his thick muscular arms surround her.

He seemed uncomfortable as he maneuvered his hands to hold on to her near naked body in the least suggestive way possible. Finally, he removed his flak jacket and his sweat shirt and covered her with both.

He said, "Mabui… You're alive. How are you alive?"

She opened her mouth to speak but still nothing came out. She squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to force something out. The silver haired man placed his hand against her cheek, soothingly. "It's ok. You must've gone through a lot to survive a bijuu bomb… I'm not even sure how this is possible… but you're safe now."

She looked up into his masked face and saw recognition in his eyes. Mabui must be her name. She reached up to his face to pull down his mask. To see the face of this man, who knew her. But he moved her hand away, placing it on his shoulder.

He pulled out his canister and watched her gulp down the water. Then he handed her some of the food pills from his pack. After she seemed satisfied, he lifted her up into his arms. "Hold on to me."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. He carried her in the direction that she presumed he came from. After awhile a forest finally appeared out of the area of desolation. The sun was setting by the time they reached the forest. He stopped once they were among the trees and put her down.

"It will be night soon." He looked down at her and then motioned to a nearby tree. "We should get some sleep. There is still a way to go to get to the route that Kumogakure is taking back to the mountains."

She frowned at him and moved her mouth. She managed, "Ku-"

"Yes, Kumogakure. Your village." The silver haired man said, curiously.

Mabui pointed at her chest. "Ma-"

Then she pointed at him, looking into his eyes expectantly.

"Yes, your Mabui. And I'm Kakashi." He pointed to himself, realizing for the first time that she had lost more than just her voice. She had no idea who he was.

She placed her hand on his chest. "Ka-"

She smiled at him and pointed to his mask again, wanting him to remove it. Kakashi backed up. With his flak jacket and sweatshirt gone, he only had on the sleeveless body suit that attached to his mask. He asked, jokingly, "Are you trying to take off all of my clothes? I don't ever take off my mask."

Mabui's green eyes looked down at the portion of Kakashi's clothes that she was wearing. She pulled off the flak jacket and handed it to him. Then she started to take off the sweatshirt.

Kakashi shook his head, placing his hand on her arm to stop her from undressing anymore. He took the flak jacket and put it back on her. "It's ok. I was joking. I want you to keep these. It will be cold once the sun fully sets."

Mabui nodded and then she sat down under the tree. Kakashi moved away to sit under another tree, but Mabui said, "Ka-"

She patted the spot next to her and motioned for him to sit. Kakashi looked at the tree that he planned to sit under, and then, back at the woman who was inviting him to sit next to her. He swallowed hard.

It had been difficult enough, carrying her for the last hour, while resisting the temptation to cop a feel of the round rear end that he got full view of while she was only in her wire mesh armor. Or the shapely breasts that he felt pushed against his chest through the thin material of his body suit. After letting so many moments between them pass, he was not sure how he was going to spend an entire night next to her and continue to restrain himself. Alone with her again. Her looking at him like he was the only man in the world. He was sweating more now than he had been as he ran.

But he also could not say 'no' to the pleading green eyes that were staring up at him. So he complied. He sat down next to her and leaned back against the tree trunk. Mabui removed his flak jacket from her shoulders and placed it across both of them. She smiled at him.

Kakashi nodded at her. "Thank you."

She responded by reaching up and kissing him on the cheek. Then she lay her head on his shoulder, mumbling, "Ka-"

He sighed. What was going on with him? It was rare that he allowed himself to feel anything personal or intimate anymore, much more comfortable burying himself in a book or the drama of everyone else's lives. And after all the emotion on the battlefield only a couple of weeks before, he had closed himself off even more, steeling himself to take up the position of hokage. He was exhausted.

And then fate put him back into the path of the woman, who had continued to haunt the back of his mind through the years. Not only because he still could not figure out how she had managed to get her and her teammate out of the blast of the paper bombs. But also because of her kindness afterwards and her understanding through the years. And now she was sitting next to him, like a raw nerve ending, forcing him to feel so much and so intensely. He was about to lose himself in it. Lamely, he fought to resist. Shifting the jacket back towards her again, he began to stand up to escape to the other tree. He had to get away from her before he did something he would regret.

Mabui was not so easily dissuaded however. She grasped his arm with both of her arms to prevent him from moving away. He would have to pry her off to move now. He thought better of it, giving into her and relaxing back against the tree again.

Losing to his irrepressible urges, he covertly turned his face into the top of her head, brushing his masked nose against her long and touseled sliver tresses. The mask kept him from going further. He closed his eyes in relief. Who was this strange woman, with no voice or memories, to just appear out of nowhere and make him feel things that he had not felt in years?

Was this even really Mabui? He knew she had been with Shikaku and Inoichi in HQ when the tail beast ball hit. Even though he had not seen her in years, he had felt the loss of her just as deeply as he felt the loss of Rin and Obito and his father. But in the midst of the battle, he only had time to quickly mourn her in secret. After the war was over, he was drawn to the place where he thought she had died, hoping to find some remnant of her. The last thing he expected was to find her alive.

It was completely impossible for anyone to have survived that explosion. There may have been a chance with the paper bombs, but a bijuu bomb? He could not wrap his mind around it. She did not even have a scar on her. The only part of her that suggested she was even in the area were her singed clothes and her smudged face, and the fact that she had no memory and could not speak.

Mabui lifted her head from his shoulder, meeting his black eyes with her green eyes. Her brown face looked at him with wonder and curiosity, the way a child stares at an exciting and brand new discovery. She moved her hand to his mask again, resting her fingers at the top of it. When he did not grab her hand this time, she pealed it down, revealing his mouth and his jaw and neck. He did not move until the mask was completely off of his face. Then he moved his head forward to brush her lips with his lips. She moved her hand to the back of his head to deepen the kiss and then up through his silver hair to wrap her fingers through the wild strands. He slid his tongue into her mouth. She accepted his tongue, twisting her own tongue around his.

He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her onto his lap, and reaching up inside of the sweatshirt to move his hands wantonly over the backside that he had been trying not to think about all day. Then he moved his mouth away from hers, leaning back against the tree. In a husky voice he asked, "Where did you come from?"

Mabui had no memory of anything before she woke up. Before she climbed out of the hole she was buried in. Before Kakashi.

She inspected his muscular chest, which was well defined underneath his half body suit, and she fingered the thick muscles that twisted down his biceps and forearms. She did not know anything about herself or her life before the last few days, but she did know with utmost certainty that she was very attracted to this man who had saved her. And something about that feeling felt very familiar to her.

She leaned in and kissed him again, searching his mouth with her tongue. Moving her fingers from his arms, she traced the muscles down his torso into the waist band of his pants. Then she sat back and inspected his lean well cut body before she nodded at him, attempting to ask his permission. Her eyes traveled down towards his pant line, where her hand rest, to signal what she wanted. In response, she could feel him grow and harden underneath her hip as she sat in his lap. He nodded "yes", breathing heavier.

That night he made love to her against the tree, her round lips half open, her silver hair strewn wildly across her face, and her eyelids hung languidly over irises hazy with the pleasure he was giving to her. He grinded his hips into her harder and faster, watching her eyes snap shut as she felt the pleasure mount. Kakashi was building quickly to his own peak, egged on by the sight of the woman, who he had loved for so long.

And then when he was done, they slid to the ground together. Rocks and splinters be damned, they lay wrapped together, breathing hard and trying to catch their breaths. Eventually, Mabui moved her arms around Kakasi's neck and pulled his head down to her, kissing him again. "My"

She wanted to tell him that he was hers. That she was claiming him and all of his amazing skills. He seemed to understand this because he smiled down at her shyly. She moved her hands softly caressing his cheek and traced her finger across his lips. Then she rolled over on top of him, pulling his body suit over his head so his upper body was bare. She buried her face into his naked chest, listening to his racing heart beat, and whispered, "My Ka-"

He kissed the top of her head. Not completely satisfied yet, his deep voice growled, "I'm going to make love to you again until you fall asleep."

She nodded her head, yes, looking up at him. And then he made love to her twice more before she fell fast asleep in his arms.


	8. Chapter 8

As the sun rose the next morning, they woke up together, still wrapped in each other's arms. Kakashi rose up on his elbows, eyeing the clothes strewn around them and Mabui's naked body lying next to him. What had he done? He said, urgently, "I have to get you back now."

Mabui sat up now too, giving him a worried look. "Ka…"

Ignoring her, he grabbed his clothes. He felt terrible and guilty. He had let his emotions take over, and it resulted in him taking advantage of her. She had made it clear to him several times over the years, that they could not be more than just friends. Last night had only happened because she did not know who she was, much less who he was, and all of her past inhibitions were gone. He remembered everything, however. He should have had the presence of mind to put a stop to it before it started.

Quickly pulling his pants and his body suit back on and covering his face with his mask, he handed her the wire mesh armor and his sweatshirt. Then he moved away to modestly let her dress in private, as though he had not thoroughly inspected every inch of her body the entire night before.

When she was done dressing, Mabui walked up next to Kakashi and took his hand. She put it to her lips. Now Kakashi felt vulnerable as he watched her do this. He cleared his throat and pried his hand from hers, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder and giving one of his fake full faced smiles.

"Let's get going." Kakashi moved off, motioning for her to follow. This time as they traveled, he kept space between them. They moved much slower with Mabui running on her own, but he knew if he carried her, his defenses would break down again.

Mabui followed him, confused and unable to communicate her frustrations. Eventually, she gave up and just allowed her disappointed eyes to wander over the country side that they traveled through. By the end of the day, they crossed paths with the Kumogakure caravan as it made its way back up to the village in the clouds.

Though everyone seemed happy and relieved to see her, Kakashi thought it was odd that no one seemed particularly shocked.

Mabui recognized no one. A blonde man, who called himself Atsui, seemed happiest to see her. And based on his actions Mabui assumed that he was her lover before she lost her memories. He appeared to really care about her. But that meant nothing to her. In the commotion of being reunited with her village, all she could think about was Kakashi. He was the only one who she felt any connection to.

When she was finally able to break away from the other cloud ninja, she searched in a panic for him. She hoped he had not left already without saying goodbye. But she was relieved to find that he was standing off to the side quietly watching her. She moved toward him until she stood in front of him. She had been able to find a shirt and pants to put on, and so she held his sweat shirt and flak jacket out to him.

He nodded and took his clothes back. She grabbed hold of his hand as he took the clothes. "Ka…"

She wanted to tell him that she planned to leave with him, but then she felt an arm snake around her waist. Atsui was standing next to her. He stuck his hand out to Kakashi. "Good to see you again. Thank you for bringing Mabui back to us."

Kakashi removed his hand from Mabui's hand and shook Atsui's hand. His eyes did not break from Mabui's eyes as he shook the man's hand however. Atsui pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "I thought I'd lost her for good. We're to be married soon."

Mabui looked up at Atsui in shock. She was supposed to be married? "A.. A.."

"I was glad to help. And congratulations… on the wedding." Kakashi smiled under his mask, but it did not spread to his eyes.

"And congratulations to you too." Atsui replied, jovially, completely oblivious to both Mabui's panic and Kakashi's frustration. "I heard you're going to be the next hokage."

"Yea. Thanks." Kakashi nodded solemnly. He pulled his sweatshirt over his head and down over his body suit and then put on his flak jacket. "I've got to get back to my own village. I'm sure they're wondering where I've been."

Mabui looked back and forth between the two men in a panic. Atsui seemed like a very nice man, but she could not stay and marry him. She did not love him. She looked back at Kakashi, who was turning away from them. She was in love with someone else. She reached out her hand to him, but he moved off quickly.

Mabui opened her mouth to call after him, but Atsui pulled her away. "Come on. We need to have the medics look at you."

She looked back over her shoulder as she was led away. Now Kakashi stopped and looked back at her. His sharingan activated.

Abruptly the scene shifted and she found herself standing right in front of him. His mask was gone again. She reached her hand out to him and touched his cheek, tracing her finger along his jaw and his lips. It felt so real. She said, "Don't leave me here. I want to come with you."

She placed her other hand around her throat and smiled, discovering that she could finally talk to him.

Kakashi pressed his cheek into her hand, and turned his face slightly to kiss it. A tear fell from his right eye. "I can't take you with me. Your life is here with your village and your fiancé. I have nothing to offer you."

"I won't marry him. I don't love him. I lov.."

"No." Kakashi shook his head, firmly, removing her hand from his face. "You don't love me. You don't know me."

"But we DID know each other before I lost my memory, didn't we? I feel something with you that I haven't felt with any one else that I've met so far…"

"We knew each other in passing. We never had a real conversation before last night." Kakashi lied. "Eventually you'll get your memories back, and then you'll remember who you are. You'll remember who I am. And you'll remember that you love Atsui –not me. It's better this way."

"It's not better without you…"

The genjutsu ended and Mabui found herself watching Kakashi's back as he walked away and out of her life again.


	9. Chapter 9

Fourteen years later…

Kakashi, now forty five, found himself wandering into the village hidden in the clouds. He had been here a few times in an official capacity as hokage, but there was never any time for anything but business.

He had only seen Mabui once since he found her after the fourth war. And it was only from a far. She looked as beautiful as ever. He was told she did eventually marry Atsui, and she had a son and a daughter. He was glad that she found happiness. Still that did not stop him from thinking about her almost every day for the last fourteen years. Then he heard that Atsui was killed by rogue ninjas while on a mission a couple of years back, and he knew once he retired as hokage, he had to find her again.

After Naruto become the seventh hokage and the tension between them got to the point that Kakashi felt he had to leave, his first thought was to find some peace. And in his mind the first step to finding peace was to settle all the questions he had about his feelings for Mabui. So he traveled east to the mountains of Kumogakure.

He was greeted by Shee, who had become the fifth raikage's head body guard after Darui took the position of raikage. "What brings you to Kumogakure, Lord Kakashi? Did the Seventh Hokage send you? Are you here in an official capacity?"

"No." Kakashi said. "I have an old friend here who I wanted to catch up with."

"Oh really." Shee said surprised. "May I ask who?"

"Umm… Mabui. Does she still live here?" Kakashi asked, cautiously.

Shee lifted a finger at him. "Oh yeah... that's right, you were the one who found Mabui after the war. Yes. She lives on the western side of the village with her children."

Then he looked solemnly at Kakashi. "You may not know yet… but her husband Atsui was killed by some rogue ninja, a couple of years back while on a mission."

"I heard." Kakashi responded.

Shee nodded, giving Kakashi a strange look. "Her son, Kashin, was particularly devastated by his father's death."

"I'm sure." This caught Kakashi's attention, though he hid it well behind his mask. Kakashi shook Shee's hand. Then he turned and moved towards the western half of the village. To the place where Shee said Mabui lived.

The house was set into the side of the mountain so that it over looked the clouds that surrounded the entire village. It was a modest but well kept house. Kakashi walked up the path and rang the bell.

The door was opened by a tall and lanky teenage boy, who appeared maybe a few years older than Naruto's children. He had a large tuff of unruly silver hair sprouting out of the top of his head, which was barely contained by the cloud ninja headband he wore over his forehead. He was a tan color, slightly lighter than his mother, and he had coal black eyes. A katana with the classic cloud ninja hilt was slung over his back. He wore gray capri pants and a matching gray sweat shirt with a body suit underneath that attached to a partial mask that covered his chin and surrounded his face. Lowering the book that was held up in front of his face, he looked up over the top of it at the copy ninja, and inspected the man's own tuft of silver hair and the blue mask that covered his face.

"Lord Hokage?" The young ninja asked, appearing shocked to find the ex leader of Konohagakure on his door step. A man, who he had admired and even emulated in his own way.

However, he was not quite as shocked as Kakashi, who was not expecting Kashin to open the door.

A small blonde girl with brown skin and green eyes came running out the door and passed between them, yelling, "You're late again Kashin!"

Kashin sneered at his little sister. "I know Atsuki."

Then Mabui came up behind her son. "Kashin, who is it?"

She looked over Kashin's shoulder. He was already slightly taller than her, though he was only thirteen. Her green eyes opened wide when she found Kakashi standing there. "Lord Kakashi."

She pushed Kashin out of the way and waved Kakashi into the house. "Come in… Kashin didn't mean to be so rude."

Kakashi followed Mabui into the house and was directed to a couch in the living room.

Mabui turned back to her son. "Your late. Please hurry before Shee comes here looking for you again."

Kashin kissed his mother on the cheek and then nodded at Kakashi. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Kakashi saluted the young man as he walked away.

"Don't stay out too late. Be back for dinner." Mabui called after her son.

Kashin stopped and looked at Kakashi again. He paused as though considering something, and then he turned and walked out of the door.

Mabui moved around the living room attempting to straighten up quickly. "Sorry. I was not expecting company. Do you want something to drink?"

Kakashi raised his hand at her. "No. Don't trouble yourself. I'm ok."

He looked in the direction of the boy who just left the house. Then he asked. "How old is your son now?"

Mabui stopped what she was doing and stood up, straightening her back. "He just turned thirteen a few weeks ago."

She sat down on the other couch. "Atsui was so proud of him. You know, he was the youngest cloud shinobi to ever pass the chunin exam –he was eight."

"I heard." Kakashi replied as nonchalantly as he could muster. "So he's a jonin now?"

"Yes he became a jonin a couple of years ago and was just named one of the fifth raikage's private bodyguards." Mabui said proudly.

Kakashi looked around the living room, his eyes stopping on a picture of Atsui standing next Mabui. The blonde man had green eyes like his wife. He carried their daughter, Atsuki, who had long blonde hair and the same green eyes as her parents. She looked like she could not have been more than two or three years old at the time. And a younger Kashin stood between his parents. He looked about five or six. His silver hair was as wild as ever and his black eyes looked fierce as he posed in a fighting stance with a snarl on his face. Mabui frowned slightly with her hand on his shoulder, looking like she was scolding him.

Kakashi smiled at the picture, imagining that might have been him at that age... if his mother had lived.

Mabui stood up and moved in front of the picture, blocking it from Kakashi's view. Then she said quietly. "I don't know why you're here. But if it's for Kashin… I'm begging you to leave it alone."

Kakashi looked up at Mabui but did not say anything.

She continued, "He considers Atsui, his father... but he's heard all of the rumors his entire life. It's been difficult for him… and it will destroy him if you confirm any of those rumors are true."

Kakashi just nodded at her, still not speaking.

Mabui sat back down on the other couch. She kept talking as though she had been holding this in for years, just waiting to spill all of her secrets. "I found out I was pregnant with Kashin before Atsui and I got married. He knew right away that the baby was your child. Even before I told him about my feelings for you. From what he has told me, our engagement was always an engagement of convenience… what the rest of the village expected. I don't think I was ever in love with him… not even before I lost my memory.

Mabui looked at Kakashi cautiously, biting her lip. "I still don't have my memories back. And I've always wondered… Did we really only know each other in passing before that day that you found me after the war? Please tell me the truth."

Kakashi leaned forward on the couch, looking Mabui in the eyes. "I lied. We did have a connection. One that has lasted since we were young. But before that night, we agreed that it was best to not act on it. It's what you wanted. I shouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that you had lost your memories."

Mabui reached out and took Kakashi's hand. "I don't know what my reasons were for not wanting to act on it, but that connection is the only thing I remember from my previous life. I wouldn't marry Atsui for a long time because of my feelings for you. But eventually he convinced me to marry him, and he accepted Kashin as his son from then on. No one could say that Kashin was not Atsui's son without facing his wrath. They were very close before he died."

Kakashi still remained quiet. He was not sure what to say. Part of him understood what Naruto was feeling that day in the street when he first laid eyes on his children. The other part of him was glad that his son had grown up in a happy family without him.

He put Mabui's fears to rest. "I'm not here for him."

He had known about Kashin for awhile now. He saw him for the first time at the chunin exam five years ago. It was hard to miss him, since he was so much younger than the other students, yet in still, one of the best of them. Kakashi knew then that he had a son. The boy looked like a Hatake. And the entire test, everyone compared Kashin's prodigious talent to Kakashi's talent as a child. Even Naruto, who was one of the most unobservant people that Kakashi knew and who knew nothing about his time with Mabui, commented that the kid looked like a carbon copy of Kakashi.

It was Kashin's talent that prevented the commenters from speculating further on Kashin's relationship to Kakashi. Kumo did not want to lose their claim on the boy and if it came out that he was the hokage's son, there was a good chance that Konohagakure might try to claim him. The two villages were reconciled for now, but that could be enough to ignite another war.

Many times Kakashi thought about staking his claim as Kashin's father. But then he thought about his own father, and Obito and Rin, and Minato and all the others who had been close to him and then died, leaving him behind. And he could tell from the short time that he was around the boy during the exam, that Kashin was growing up a happy and protected child. "I've known about Kashin for awhile now. I came here for you."

Mabui's green eyes relaxed a bit. She nodded her head and then she started to cry. "I didn't try to keep him from you. I ran away from Kumo when I first found out I was pregnant. I was going to find you. I know you told me to stay away, but I…"

Kakashi dropped to his knees and moved closer to Mabui. He wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. "Things worked out the way they were supposed to. Kashin had Atsui as a father, and he turned into a great young man. And you have your daughter, who wouldn't be here if you hadn't married Atsui."

Mabui nodded. "I know."

Kakashi wiped the tears from her face. She smiled. "And I got my voice back."

"I see." He replied.

"Atsui was an understanding man, but it was hard on him. I tried to be the best wife that I could. And I did care about him deeply…" Mabui continued. "But my first memory will always be of you and the night that we spent together. And every day I look at my son and all I see is you. I could never get past that."

Kakashi removed the mask from his face to reveal himself to her again. He had not taken off his mask for anyone since that night he was with her fourteen years ago. He kissed her cheek and then her lips. Finally, he pulled a book out of his back pocket and handed it to her. "You gave this to me once a long time ago and told me to tell you how the story ends next time I see you. Well I just finished it a couple of weeks ago."

Mabui took the book and looked at him. "How does it end?"

"In the actual story she dies of the plague, and he drowns at sea not long after." Kakashi cringed. "Not a great story."

Mabui frowned. "Doesn't sound like it."

"But someone wrote a better ending on the last page…" Kakashi turned the pages of the book to the last page.

Mabui recognized her handwriting. The note read:

 _In a better and less complicated world... they reunite. She, finally, tells him that he has always been the love of her life. Soon after they get married and live happily ever after. Oh… and they have a son named Kashin (I always liked that name lol). The End. -Mabui._

Mabui looked up at Kakashi. "I wrote this?"

He nodded. "Twenty years ago."

She looked back down at the book silently.

"I'm no longer hokage… and I plan to live apart from my village for awhile. I came here because I want a chance to get to know you and Kashin and your daughter. If you will let me."

Mabui flew off of the couch into Karachi's arms, kissing him on the lips.


	10. Chapter 10

"I've heard stories about you, my entire life." Kashin said to Kakashi as they stood together on the mountain side looking down on the Kumogakure. The boy crouched down and pulled his book out of his pocket, sticking a tooth pick in his mouth. "Even in Kumo, you're a legend. They say you know over a thousand jutsu. Is that true?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far."

"And you were the best ANBU that the leaf ever created? And you taught the seventh hokage and Sasuke Uchiha?" Kashin continued talking though his eyes appeared to be buried in the book pages.

"Well the last part's true. But they turned out alright anyway." Kakashi sat down himself and pulled out his own book. "What are you reading?"

Kashin turned the spine of his book. "Primed to Kill. It's about a ninja who kills his entire village and then wanders the land searching for his soul. Pure trash!"

Kashin's eyes grew big with excitement. Kakashi thought that might be the most emotion that he had seen out of the boy since he had been around him for the last week. "What about you?"

Kakashi turned the spine of his book. "Just some smuttie trash."

"The best smute is Make out tactics." Kashin said, his eyes getting even bigger.

"Does your mother know you read smute?" Kakashi gave Kashin a side ways glance.

The boy looked at Kakashi over the top of his book, fear entering his eyes. "You aren't going to tell her are you?"

"Not as long as you promise to stick to reading only." Kakashi said, turning the page of his own book. A half grin formed under his mask.

Kashin blew out a slow breath of relief. Then he grumbled. "There's no danger of that. I'm never around any girls, who are my own age, anyway. They're always way too old, and they're always pulling at my cheeks and calling me cute."

He ran his hand through his wild silver hair. "Older women are nothing but a problem."

Kakashi huffed. "Keep thinking that."

Then he placed his book down on the ground, turning the conversation serious again. "Your mother told me that your father was killed on a mission that you were on together."

Kashin shifted the toothpick in his mouth. His eyes did not move from the page of his book. Finally, he said, "I was on a different squad. But I should have stayed on his team… Then he might not be dead."

"Do you think you could've saved him and his team by yourself?"

Kashin looked at Kakashi. "I was the best shinobi out there. His squad had an uneven amount of weaker ninja. I should've been on that team."

"You think very highly of yourself." Kakashi replied nonchalantly.

"What the hell do you know, old man?!" Kashin snapped, shutting his book and moving to stand up.

Kakashi did not move. He said, "I know enough to know that whether a team fails or succeeds to complete a mission… or if someone is killed or saved, is never one person's doing –that's why it's called a team. Each member of the team is equally responsible for its success."

Kashin turned to walk away and then he stopped mid step. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Can I stop you?" Kakashi asked, sarcastically.

"No one ever says so out loud… but I've known since I was little that Atsui was not my real father." Kashin continued, ignoring Kakashi.

He turned back to watch Kakashi's reaction. The copy ninja gave him none. Kakashi just asked, "Oh is that so?"

"The kids use to tease me all the time. They called me a bastard and said my real father was a storm demon. That's why I was so naturally gifted with ninjutsu… because I wasn't human." Kashin moved next to Kakashi again and sat down. "I've never had very many friends when I was little –that's why my mom started giving me books."

Kashin looked down at the book in his hand. "Then when I got older, every one said I looked just like the white fang of the leaf and his son, the copy ninja. So I thought maybe…"

Kashin paused again, but he still got no reaction from Kakashi. "No one ever says it to my face, but every one thinks that I inherited my gifts from you."

Kakashi turned a page in his book. He asked, "Are you asking if I'm your father?"

Kashin looked down at his hands again. When he looked back up, Kakashi was staring at him intently. He nodded his head, yes.

"Your mother said you didn't want to know." Kakashi said, kindly.

Kashin shrugged. He slipped his hand's in his pockets and hunched over. "I want to know."

"Well. I was with your mother around the time that you were conceived." Kakashi confirmed. "And being that you look just like my father and nothing like your father, I'd say the answer is likely yes."

"Did you know about me?" Kashin asked, shyly.

Kakashi put his book down. He considered the question. "Not at first. But when I saw you at the chunin exam, I had a pretty good idea that you were my son."

"Why didn't you come for me then?" Kashin asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Because you already had a father and a family. What did I have to offer you? I'm a bachelor who reads smute in his free time."

Kashin nodded, firmly. "Atsui was a good father. He knew I was not his son, but he never treated me like I was any less his blood than Atsuki."

"How did you know my mother?" Kashin asked next. "She won't talk about any of this with me."

"We were friends for a long time after she saved my life when we were kids. Then we fought together in the fourth war." Kakashi said. "She managed to survive one of the biggest massacres of the war and I was the one who found her."

"Did you love her?"

Kakashi paused for another moment. Finally he said, "Yes. Yes, I did. I still do."

"She's been sad since my father's death two years ago –but now she's happy again… since you've been here." Kashin commented. "Are you planning on staying?"

"For as long as you let me." Kakashi replied.

Then Kashin gave a half smile. "I knew you were my biological father a long time ago. That's why I taught myself the chidori. Of course, I don't have a sharingan, so I had to modify it. I use it with my katana, ya know."

Kakashi gave his son another side eyed glance. "I'd love to see that."

"Maybe I'll show you one day."


	11. Chapter 11

It had been over a year now since Kakashi came to Kumogakure, and two months ago, he finally married Mabui. He settled into his new life easily. Into the role of Mabui's husband and the male figure in both Kashin's and Atsuki's lives.

It was not until after he married her that he finally found out the secret to Mabui's survival of the paper bombs and the bijuu bomb. Why no one in the village was shocked when he brought her back alive, and why she had continued to resist his feelings for her, though she loved him from the very beginning.

Mabui was the last child of one of Kumo's most powerful bloodlines, the Soga Clan. Kakashi had heard of this clan before, but he like most of the world thought they all died out decades ago. The nature of their kekkei genkai was secret, but before they disappeared, Soga clan members were always used on the Kumo frontline and were known for having the ability to take out large numbers of shinobi in seconds.

And the Soga clan were wiped out as a result of their kekkei genkai during the third war. After Kumo's attempt to kidnap Konoha's jinchuuriki, Konoha countered by using the Uchiha sharingan to massacre and kidnap Kumo's Soga clan. Mabui's parents were among the Soga kidnapped and experimented on by none other than Orochimaru by request of Danzo and the Root. Kumo had been hiding Mabui ever since then. She was forbidden to use the name Soga, or to tell anyone, outside of the higher up officials in Kumo, about her kekkei genkai. And the village pretended that the bloodline died out.

Mabui's kekkei genkai allowed her to manipulate her chakra to form solid force fields over her skin, as well as any living being with chakra that came in contact with her. It was instinctive like Gara's sand, so any physical attack was countered by her chakra. But unlike Gara's sand, her chakra shields were completely impenetrable and indestructible. She was only vulnerable to the use of genjutsu or poisons.

Of course being completely indestructible had caused Mabui a fair amount of pain in her life, as she watched others around her die. Fighting in the third war as a child, Kumo used her as a suicide bomber on the drop squad, ordered to blow up entire units of shinobi, before the clean up squad came through to wipe out any survivors. It was a mental trauma of which she had nightmares for decades until she lost her memory.

After the third war ended, Kumo continued to force Mabui into active duty though her temperament was much more suited for administrative work. But it was not long after her first encounter with Kakashi that she threatened to defect unless they took her from the field. Mabui's other ability, the heavenly transfer technique, was also very valuable to Kumo, so the village relented and she became the raikage's assistant.

For a long time, Mabui refused to marry or be in a relationship, not wanting to pass the burden of her bloodline on to children. But after significant pressure, she agreed to marry her best friend, Atsui. In exchange, he secretly agreed that they would never have any children. Then she lost her memory and crossed paths with Kakashi again. And Kashin was conceived.

After she had her children and the fifth raikage succeeded the fourth, she retired as the raikage's assistant as well. Both of her children inherited her kekkei genkai. Even without most of her memories, Mabui still worried about them, knowing their bloodline would be used by the village eventually. She worried about Kashin even more so than Atsuki. Because of the natural genius that he inherited from his father, he had already learned to use his force field to not only block physical attacks as with the average Soga, but also some mental attacks.

Kakashi later found out that Orochimaru used the DNA that he stole from Mabui's clan to create the force fields that blocked Hinata's Mokumokuren.

* * *

Now Mabui worried about Kakashi. He made the decision that he needed to help Naruto recover his family from Orochimaru. Even with the love and happiness of his new life, there was still a huge hole left over from his old life. And he knew this was the only way to start to recover from the rift that had formed between him and his former protégé.

For several decades, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had been his adopted children. Being that Naruto was his deceased mentor's orphaned son and Sasuke was without any family or clan, he felt a large portion of the responsibility of parent fell onto his shoulders, particularly after Jiraiya died.

But because of what happened with Hinata, he had basically been exiled from Naruto's life. And if he was exiled from Naruto's life, it was the same with Sasuke and Sakura.

Then he received a message from Sasuke informing him that Orochimaru had kidnapped Boruto, Hinata and Sarada. It was a small glimmer of hope that his family needed him, once again. Besides, he felt like this was partially his fault because he had let Orochimaru go all those years ago. So he made up his mind that he had to go on this mission.

When he told Kashin his plan, the boy grew extremely angry and hostile. Kakashi ignored the temper tantrum and asked him to come with him. Kashin accepted quickly though with fake reluctance.

The night before they left, Kakashi leaned over and kissed Mabui on the lips as he joined her under the sheets of their bed. She did not look happy. "The last time I sent a husband and a son on a mission –one of them did not come back."

"Oh… I'll be back. You should know by now that you can't get rid of me that easy, my love." Kakashi smiled down at his wife. "Besides, I'll have our son for back up. According to him, there is no one better for the job."

Mabui laughed despite herself, knowing well her son's ego. She reached up and put a hand on Kakashi's cheek, enjoying his face without the mask. "And while you're out there bonding, can you maybe convince him not to wear a mask all the time like his father? I'd love to see both my son's and my husband's faces from time to time."

Now Kakashi laughed. "I never remove my mask… except for you."


End file.
